Have to say these leopards are a roller coaster ride that you don't want to get off of. Picked up the Potters (~2.5") and the smaller Bipart(~1") from my LFS first about 6 weeks ago and then the very next day they had a larger female Bipartitus(~2") come in and I snatched it up too. I just hope my early success so far continues and they don't just mysteriously disappear. I have to say I am very lucky to have a quality LFS that just opened up recently to fill a void that my area was greatly lacking.
My main DT setup is a 180g, ~150lbs rock, 2-4 inches of Caribsea special grade sand, some LPS/SPS, 2xTunze 6105's(7096 controller), Reefbrite LEDs, 40g sump w/ ~700gph return, more live rock, SRO-3000 skimmer, Dolomite RRUGF in sump, lime water ATO, and dose vinegar. That's pretty much it. I was running a 55 for a few years and just moved everything from it to the 180 a few months ago.
I actually didn't put them right into the DT. I know this isn't recommended throughout this thread and don't want to say not too. I just didn't and don't with everything that is wet. I did put in the effort though into setting up a QT appropriate for leopards and didn't do my standard QT procedures. I setup a 29g with 3" of special grade sand, 20lbs of liverock from my sump, sponge filter w/ maxijet 900, cheap t8 light, and a a couple koralia nano's.
I set the light on a timer to start up at 5am and turn off at 3pm and slowly adjusted it every day to my display tanks lighting schedule. I made sure they were all eating and then went through two treatments of prazipro. The first day the potters and smaller bipart dived in the sand right away but the larger bitpart stayed out right away but periodically will go a day with out seeing her. I thought the potters was a goner as it either stayed in the sand or only came out when I wasn't home but never saw it for a good week. Also, its mouth was receded showing it's white almost beak like look. I read in this thread that is not a good sign at all and a death warrant. I got to see the smaller bipart 2 days after introduction. I was a little nervous about the larger female as it looked like it may have had a little lump in it's belly. The potters is still an early riser before the lights turn on and early to bed before my lights start ramping down.
I setup an autofeeder with NLS 1mm pellets and set it to feed 4 times a day a small amount. I also have an in tank brine shrimp hatchery that I have constantly going so they get baby brine snacks. I also feed frozen twice a day, as soon as I get home and about 2 hours after that. During QT I had my wife do it until the lighting schedule matched up with my DT as she works at home. I feed a various assortment of frozen cubes which the list includes San Fransisco Bay (Carnivore Cuisine, Emerald Entree, Marine Cuisine), Hikari (mysis, spirulina brine, krill), and PE (mysis, cyclopeeze).
I found a mix of results in what they wanted to eat and started with just eh single ingredients. The potters instantly liked the NLS pellets the other two didn't start out very interested in it. The Potters didn't like PE mysis but did like the Hikari mysis. The other two liked both types of mysis. They all loved the Hikari krill/spriulina brine, and PE cyclopeeze. The potters and the smaller bipart liked the SFB marine cuisine and all liked the Carnivore cuisine. By the end though they all were eating everything I put in there which in my opinion is because they learned to eat something different from watching the other fish eat what they didn't at first. IF that makes any sense. I didn't try the emerald entree until the very end and they each picked out what they wanted.
I really would like to believe they made it this far due to the setup and feeding. I really tried to keep it was stress free as possible. They didn't have to compete with other fish, light cycle was slowly adjusted, tried everything food wise often, and prazipro. The mouth on the potters is almost completely healed now probably with help from the diet and the lump is gone on the larger bipart which probably was helped from the prazipro.
About three days ago I added them to the display tank and they haven't skipped a beet. They seem to be waking up and going to bed just as they did before and each have found a spot to dive into. I haven't noticed any aggression with them or any of the other fish and feeding habits are still the same. We'll see how the next year goes. I want to keep adding to my collection and like I posted above really hope to have at least one kuiteri soon.
